Vacate
by erbkaiser
Summary: Taylor Hebert AU: Taylor has the power to open anything she can perceive as being 'locked'.
1. Chapter 1

Vacate

Taylor hesitated before opening the door to her closet. Ever since the locker she had developed a —justifiable, thank you very much— fear of small spaces. She took a deep breath to centre herself, then opened the doors. Her chosen outfit for the night was ready. Black track pants, leather gloves, combat boots that she had fished out of a dumpster, a black hoodie that could completely cover her hair and hide most of her face from view, and a domino mask to hide what the hoodie couldn't. It was all very low budget, but that was what she had for now. Time to go out and be a hero… as soon as Danny, her father, went to sleep.

An hour later she was patrolling the streets adjacent to the Brockton Bay docks. ABB territory, not that you could tell tonight. She had been walking the streets ever since leaving home and hadn't even seen a single dealer, let alone a mugging.

'How am I supposed to be a hero if all the criminals are elsewhere?' she wondered, choosing to enter another alley at random. Immediately upon entering, she crouched behind a dumpster. Further down the same alley was a group of around a dozen ABB gangsters as well as one of the people Taylor had been hoping to avoid tonight… Oni Lee.

Oni Lee was basically a sociopath. According to Parahumans Online he was a remorseless killer that could teleport, leaving behind a double, and who loved to use either knives or grenades. Basically he would teleport behind you or next to you, attack, and teleport away before you could even hope to strike back. Her quick glance told her that Oni Lee was armed with at least two knives and was wearing a bandoleer stacked with grenades.

"They should be headed this way," one of the gangsters said. "Remember, we're here as backup for Oni Lee, our goal is to keep them busy until Lung shows up. Don't let them escape towards the inner city or we'll be the ones to pay the price!"

Lee kept silent, Taylor noticed. Slowly she decided to back off. If the ABB were trying to set an ambush for someone it was likely another gang, and she did not intend to end up in a gang war on her first night out… or ever. Unfortunately just as she rose from her hiding spot and made to sneak out of the alley again, one of the gangsters happened to look her way.

"Over there!" he yelled.

Taylor ran, ducking right the moment she hit the street and went straight for the first doorway she saw. The door was locked of course, not that it stopped her as she threw open the door and ran into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her. She had picked an abandoned building from the looks of things, not that she looked around much as she made a straight line for the stairs leading up.

"Fucker is gone!" she heard from the street, voices carrying through the empty road. Taylor didn't stop running, heading up and up until she found the roof access. It was also locked, at least until she placed her hand on the doorknob and threw the door open. She fell forwards, catching herself on her hands, and wheezed from the death run she had just done to escape the gangsters.

The sound of something compressing the gravel next to her alerted her just in time to roll sideways, seeing the glimpse of a blade pass through where her neck had been prior to her dodge move. Oni Lee had teleported onto her rooftop and was looking down at where she lay just a second ago.

"Wait wait wait can we talk about this? I was just leaving OH FUCK!" Taylor had to stop her panicked babble as a second Oni Lee appeared next to her new position, slashing for her again. Somehow she managed to scramble away just in time again, getting back on her feet. From the corner of her eye she saw the original Oni Lee explode in a cloud of white ash.

"Fine! If we gotta do it this way, it's your own fault!" she yelled with more bravado than she knew she had. Oni Lee teleported next to her again and she kicked for his shin while his former self exploded in white ash again. He avoided her kick, but the sound of several pieces of metal falling down distracted him for a moment as Taylor ran for the opposite corner of the roof.

A deafening explosion hid Oni Lee from sight as the eight grenades he had been carrying in his bandoleer all exploded. Taylor lay on her front behind an air cooler as the explosion hit, the metal hiding her from the shrapnel. Carefully she looked over the device at where Oni Lee had been standing a moment before, seeing only a small crater but no sign of the homicidal gangster.

Taylor stood still, shaking like a leaf. She was very aware of just how close to death she had come in the past few minutes. Then she almost fell over again as three heavy impacts shook the roof. Three monstrous animals that looked like a cross between a lizard and a tiger, if said tiger lizard was all covered in muscle rather than scales or fur, had jumped on her roof from an adjacent one. Strangest of all was that they all had riders: two girls, one guy, and one person she wasn't sure of the gender of but who she judged to be a man by his height.

"That was fucking awesome," the fourth one said, confirming that he was male by his voice. "How did you manage to pull the grenade pins that quickly?"

"Regent, we decided I'd talk first," the other guy said. He was dressed in all black like she was, only his costume was basically out law biker complete with a skull covered helmet. "You really helped us out," he said as he dismounted. Once he was standing on the roof he held out a hand towards Taylor.

Taylor just nodded, making no move to take his hand. The other three dismounted as well.

"Not gonna lie, we were pretty freaked when we realized Lung was hunting for us tonight. Only, he never showed up… there we are all ready to throw down and instead of Lung, we find, well, you, kicking Oni Lee's arse while a dozen or so gangbangers are on the street trying to open some door. How did you manage to get up here, and what the hell did you do to him anyway?"

"She managed to open and re-lock the doors, and has some trick that made her pull out all of Lee's grenades' pins at the same time," the girl dressed all in purplish black said. She grinned as she added, "Lee managed to throw the bandoleer off just in time but was knocked off the roof by the blast. He'll live, but he broke a few bones at the least."

The biker guy turned to look at Taylor. "Introductions. That's Tattletale. I'm Grue. The girl with the dogs—" he pointed to the other girl, who Taylor realized was controlling the beasts —dogs?— with whistles somehow. She wasn't wearing much of a costume except for a dog mask. "—We call her Bitch, but the good guys call her Hellhound instead. Blame P.G. Last and least is Regent."

The guy who had told me my fight had been 'fucking awesome' chuckled, retorting, "Fuck you, Grue," in a tone that made it clear he was amused more than anything. He looked like a guy who had just escaped a renaissance faire.

Grue looked over at Taylor for several seconds, then asked in a slightly worried tone, "Hey, you okay? Are you hurt?"

"She's not introducing herself because she's shy, not because she is hurt," Tattletale told Grue. It looked like she was gonna say more, but then she turned her head. "Heroes incoming. We gotta scram."

Bitch nodded and whistled and Taylor jumped as the building shook from the impact of the three monster dogs returning from wherever they had gone to while they had been talking. Well, listening and talking.

"Hey," Grue said, looking back at Taylor. "You want to come with us?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Want to at least tell us your name?" Tattletale asked.

"Vacate," Taylor said, "I… I'm Vacate."

"Well, Vacate, one of the Protectorate is coming here in a few moments. You'd better head out unless you want to spend some time locked up at the Rig. We'll talk later, okay?" Tattletale said. She climbed on one of the dog monsters and before Taylor had a chance to reply the three monster dogs jumped off the roof.

Taylor looked at the roof access door, but it was blocked by rubble from the explosion Oni Lee's grenades had caused, leaving her with no way down other than the fire escape… which had been crushed as well.

"Fuck," she said, as the sound of a motorcycle drew her attention to the street and she saw one of the biggest heroes in the city, Armsmaster, arrive. Their eyes met across the distance and for a moment she admired his armour and halberd before he trained said weapon on her.

"Unknown Parahuman, you're under arrest," he called out.

"Fuck."


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Part of this is new, part of it is reused from earlier written stuff. I originally had most of this in flashback or discussion but writing the scenes as they happen works better.

**Vacate 02**

"Unknown Parahuman, you're under arrest," Armsmaster called out.

"Fuck. Should've gone with the Undersiders if the heroes are trying to arrest me straight away," Taylor muttered.

"Well, if you want to arrest me, you're going to have to help me get off this roof first," she called down after a bit of thinking.

"You're stuck up there?" Armsmaster called up.

"Yeah, Oni Lee blew up the stairs. He caused all the damage by the way, I was just trying to run away all the time..."

"Stand by," the armour-clad hero said, finally lowering his halberd and properly securing his motorcycle.

Taylor moved back from the roof edge and leaned up against one of the air cooling units.

=x=x=x=

"Hello there!"

Taylor let out a scream and jumped up, her heart racing as suddenly someone spoke up from next to her.

"Woah, didn't mean to scare you!" the owner of the voice said. He was wearing a red suit of body armor complete with a helmet, with a silver shield emblem on his chest. Taylor recognised him as Aegis, one of the Wards who was apparently very hard to permanently damage, and who could fly. Which explained how he had come up to the roof so quietly.

"I'm not scared, you just surprised me," Taylor said once she had her nerves back under control. "Aegis, right?"

"Got it. You're not going to attack me, are you?" Aegis said.

"Wasn't planning on it. I had enough excitement for one day earlier."

"So I see," Aegis said, looking at the badly damaged roof. "Armsmaster said you were stuck up here?"

"Yeah, Oni Lee's grenades destroyed the stairs as well as the fire escape, and I can't exactly jump down."

"No Mover or Brute power, eh? Well, don't worry miss, I can get you back on ground level. May I get your name first, though?"

"Ta—Vacate, and thanks."

"Okay, hold on to me and I'll fly us back down," Aegis said. Taylor hesitated only briefly before doing just that, and once she had her arms around Aegis' waist he did the same to her. The hero lifted them both up with his flight power and then slowly moved them over the roof edge and back down to the ground.

"You can let go now," he said, sounding amused. Taylor quickly let go, looking down as she fought her blush.

"Finally," Armsmaster said in a gruff voice as he walked over. "Unknown Para—"  
"I'm Vacate / She's Vacant," Taylor and Aegis said at the same time.

"Vacant, you're under arrest," Armsmaster continued, sounding a bit more annoyed than usual.

"What? What for?" Taylor asked.

"Destructive use of Parahuman powers by an unregistered Parahuman."

"I didn't cause the damage, Oni Lee did! All I did was defend myself! I told you before!" Taylor protested.

"You can tell us all about it back at the Rig," Armsmaster said, producing a pair of handcuffs from somewhere on his armour.

"Sir, isn't that a bit… much? She was cooperating until now," Aegis interjected. "Vacant, will you come with us to the Rig for a debriefing?"

"Am I under arrest?" Taylor asked.

Armsmaster seemed to be listening to someone over his helmet radio as he stepped away and was silent for a moment, then he returned and said "No. If you will come in peacefully for a debrief, there is no reason to arrest you at this time."

"Fine," Taylor said.

"Aegis, you can go. I've got things handled from here," Armsmaster said.

"Yes sir. Bye, Vacant! Nice to meet you!" Aegis said as he flew off.

"It's Vacate!" Taylor called after him.

=x=x=x=x=

A few minutes later a PRT van arrived and Taylor was instructed to sit in the back. The door was closed once she entered, then the two PRT officers stepped back in the vehicle and the van drove off.

"Isn't Armsmaster coming with us?" Taylor asked.

"He's taking his motorcycle back," the trooper in the passenger seat said. "So, what's your power?"

"I'll keep that to myself for now," Taylor said.

"Fine with me," the trooper said. Taylor sighed, wondering if she had made a mistake in coming with them. A little bit later the radio crackled and a voice came on: "Mobile unit delta, take the package directly to the warehouse instead."

"Delta acknowledges," the driver said.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing to worry about," the passenger said. Taylor noticed him reach for his side arm, though. She waited for the van to stop for a traffic light, then quickly jumped for the back door of the van, opening it, and jumping out.

"She's escaping!" she heard the passenger yell.

"The car door is locked!" the driver shouted. If they said anything else, Taylor didn't hear it as she ran as hard as he could. She glanced back for a moment and saw the PRT officers had made it out of the van somehow and were aiming weapons at her. A frown appeared on her face as she made their guns lock up, then she was running again, ducking into an alley and out of sight of the troopers.

By the time they caught up she was nowhere in sight, having entered an automated laundrette through the —locked— back door.

=x=x=x=x=

The Brockton Bay Wards were all in assembly when Armsmaster and Miss Militia entered the briefing room.

"Good, you're all here," Armsmaster said. "Phone away, Shadow Stalker."

Grumbling, the former vigilante did so.

Miss Militia walked up to a blackboard and wrote down 'Vacate' on top. "We had a security incident yesterday. A previously unknown Parahuman, codenamed Vacate, was taken into custody following a fight with the ABB but managed to escape before she could be extracted from site."

"She took a vacation from Armsmaster's tour, you mean?" Dennis, Clockblocker, quipped.

"This is not a laughing matter, Clockblocker!" Armsmaster said in a firm tone. "Vacate was constrained in the back of a PRT issued van, but she still managed to escape. Furthermore she somehow caused the stun guns of the PRT personnel on site to malfunction…"

"I thought her name was Vacant?" Carlos, Aegis, said.

"… possible," Armsmaster admitted. He tapped some buttons on his armour and a few lines of text appeared on the monitor in the room, as well as a picture extracted from his helmet's surveillance camera.

Codename: Vacate or Vacant

Sex: Female

Estimated Age: 16-19

Power assessment: Blaster or Shaker, can manipulate locks and other equipment

"There's not much on there," Dean, Gallant, said. "Also, Blaster _or_ Shaker?"

"Are we sure she's female? She's really flat," Dennis said.

"One more joke like that and it's Console duty for a week straight," Miss Militia said. "As for Blaster or Shaker, her power seems to work at a range, however the exact range could not be determined. It's unknown at this time if she has an area of effect or needs line of sight."

"Vacate was not very cooperative during the encounter and the fact she not only manage to escape PRT custody but also disable equipment is worrying. It is imperative she is brought under Protectorate control as quickly as possible, before she joins one of the gangs," Armsmaster concluded the meeting.

=x=x=x=x=

PHO

=x=x=x=x=

"Brian! You've gotta see this," Tattletale —no, Lisa out of costume— called out, sitting in the Undersiders' living room.

Brian walked out of one of the side rooms and read the laptop screen. "Wait, she _locked_ their guns?"

"Yup," Lisa said, a smug smile on her face.

"You know there's no way that you can just 'lock' or 'unlock' a gun," Brian said.

"Bri, I know that, you know that… it's important that Vacate does _not_ know that, though."

"I don't get it?"

"Look, powers are bullshit, okay? As long as Vacate believes she can open or close something, her power can do it for her. I know it can't work, too, but she was able to disable guns at a distance. And don't even get me started on 'unlocking' grenade pins like she did with Oni Lee."

"Ah. Got it. So, as long as Vacate doesn't _realize_ she is doing the impossible..."

"Exactly. And that's why we need her on the team."


End file.
